I’m a first time driver in a Ford Focus 2004 1.8 tdci and yesterday I was out driving stopped at a red light and wasn’t paying attention to how long I was on the biting point, next thing I know smoke came out of the side of my car and a horrible smell followed, the clutch then became stuck, I put the car in neutral left it to idle for about 30 minutes, then it started driving fine, just got a smell whenever I used the clutch, drove it back fine parked it up and left it, tried this morning to start it, it starts fine then idles lower than usual then just cuts out, could I have damaged the clutch too much?

3 hours ago, Brooski said:

I’m a first time driver in a Ford Focus 2004 1.8 tdci and yesterday I was out driving stopped at a red light and wasn’t paying attention to how long I was on the biting point, next thing I know smoke came out of the side of my car and a horrible smell followed, the clutch then became stuck, I put the car in neutral left it to idle for about 30 minutes, then it started driving fine, just got a smell whenever I used the clutch, drove it back fine parked it up and left it, tried this morning to start it, it starts fine then idles lower than usual then just cuts out, could I have damaged the clutch too much?

i dont know a whole lot abut cars myself but from hearing that you clutch might have gone? most likely transmission issues at the minimum

This is an odd one.  The clutch shouldn't affect the engine idling at all while you're out of gear.  You don't even need a clutch fitted to run an engine.

DMF sounds like a potential culprit, but the fact it idled for 30 minutes after the event yesterday suggests it's not that either.  Can you hear any metallic rattling/clattering?

I reckon you will need a new clutch, that one was probably original anyway, but I'm just not convinced that the stalling is caused by that.

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

This is an odd one.  The clutch shouldn't affect the engine idling at all while you're out of gear.  You don't even need a clutch fitted to run an engine.

DMF sounds like a potential culprit, but the fact it idled for 30 minutes after the event yesterday suggests it's not that either.  Can you hear any metallic rattling/clattering?

I reckon you will need a new clutch, that one was probably original anyway, but I'm just not convinced that the stalling is caused by that.

There are no metallic noises, there is believed to be a slight injector problem as the car has done 117k miles and they’ve not been changed to my knowledge, and it has a small starting issue. It’s just weird and confusing how it’s doing this after I mess up with the clutch. It drops to around 700-800 rpm then just cuts off, I replaced the battery and air filter just over a week ago, and after a small inspection it looks like one of the connections for the battery is very slightly coming loose, could it be something this small?

Loose battery terminals can cause all sorts of issues so it might be that yeah.

39 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Loose battery terminals can cause all sorts of issues so it might be that yeah.

Ok, I’ll give that a shot tomorrow, I’ll let you know how it goes.